How This Dad Built a 100K Chess Channel (w/ James Gardner) | 048

Dillan interviews James Gardner—the man behind Epic Chess.

James is a British YouTuber who’s built a comedic and high-skill chess analysis channel with over 100,000 subscribers. His videos blend educational game breakdowns, storytelling, and humor, making chess entertaining for enthusiasts and casual fans.

They discuss: how to build long-term success on YouTube without burning out, the power of storytelling in thumbnails and titles, the challenge of idea generation, finding your unfair advantages as a creator, monetization beyond AdSense, how to create consistently without losing your soul, and much more.

Epic Chess's links...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@epicchess2021

•••

Follow Dillan on the interwebs...

Twitter / X: https://x.com/dillanroytaylor
Newsletter: https://www.grindstone.coach/newsletter
Apply for Grindstone Coaching: https://www.grindstone.coach/

Music by myboy.scoochy:
https://www.instagram.com/myboy.scoochy/ 

•••

0:00 Intro
1:04 Why James started Epic Chess
13:44 Breaking down the early Epic Chess channel
18:14 How James has improved his content over 3 years 
27:24 The value of just getting started
30:05 When to push vs when to pivot
36:05 James’s creative system for posting every day
39:18 Why he makes the thumbnail first
40:19 Polished vs authentic content
46:09 Thumbnail strategies and AI tools
52:52 Sponsorships, revenue breakdown, and boundaries
1:04:41 Sustainable success and reframing burnout
1:15:41 Epic Chess links & Dillan's tattoo
1:19:06 Dillan vs. James blitz game
1:29:49 Bye bye bye